The Maccabees ended up having enough oil for eight nights, but what happens when an NBA game goes into three overtimes?
That’s the problem that Rabbi Levi Teldon, program and youth director of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life & Learning in San Antonio, encountered last year when he planned to do a menorah-lighting for Chanukah after a game between the Spurs and the Utah Jazz.
“With our luck, the game went into triple overtime, and the Spurs lost in the end,” said Teldon of the white-knuckle game that finished up with a score of 117-116. “We still had 200 people on the court, but it was just too late for most people.”
So this year, he and others plan to light the menorah on the court beforehand.
The celebration at the Spurs game on Monday, Dec. 14, against the Utah Jazz is one of at least 17 different events that Chabad centers have planned around Chanukah time at NBA and NHL games this year.
The sporting events, according to Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries, are an opportunity to show the unity of the Jewish people and bring the light of Chanukah to a large and diverse audience. The eight-day festival celebrates when a small group of Jews, who had only a one-day supply of oil, was able to defeat a huge army of Syrian-Greeks and recapture the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
“We’re very proud of the Spurs. They are a phenomenal team,” said Teldon of the winners of three championships over the last decade. “They are about the mission, the goal—not about individual success—and that’s what Judaism and Chanukah are all about. It’s about being there for each other, and bringing light to the world and a positive difference to people.”
Teldon expects more than 200 Jewish community members to attend the game along with the throngs of other spectators. In addition to the menorah-lighting, fans will receive a shirt commemorating the event and a visit from the Spurs mascot, the Coyote.
“I’m assuming that we’ll get lots of selfies,” said Teldon, who moved to San Antonio in 2010 from New York—and admits that he used to be a Knicks fan.
‘The World Can Use a Boost’
In 1987, Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, co-director of Chabad of South Broward in Hallandale, Fla., was the first Chabad emissary to light a menorah at a sporting event during halftime of a Miami Dolphins football game at what was then called the Joe Robbie Stadium. More than 75,000 fans were on hand, with both teams on the field during the 15-minute Chanukah ceremony.
It was a Hakhel year, which occurs every seven years following the Shemittah (Sabbatical) year. In ancient times, during a Hakhel year, Jews would stream to Jerusalem to unite in the Holy Temple and hear Torah from the king. This being a Hakhel year as well, it is a time to encourage Torah learning and large social gatherings of the Jewish people.
With that in mind, Rabbi Avremi Zippel, program director of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah in Salt Lake City, is organizing what he hopes will be the largest crowd yet for a menorah-lighting in Utah’s history before a basketball game on Wednesday, Dec. 9, between the Jazz and the Knicks.
Zippel said organizing such an event is especially challenging in what is most likely “the smallest Jewish market in the NBA by a long shot.”
He estimated that there are about 1,300 Jewish households in the area. At first, he acknowledged being a bit nervous because this was the first year organizing an event at a Jazz game, and he had committed to selling 100 tickets. Ultimately, he was able to sell three times that many, with people from across the spectrum of the Jewish community expected to attend.
“The fact that we are able to pull off an event on this scale is all about the miracle of Chanukah,” stated the rabbi.
Hebrew-school students will get to stand next to Jazz players during the national anthem and enjoy kosher hot dogs at halftime.
Chabad is also organizing menorah-lightings at Israeli Basketball Premier League games, where fans will receive specially designed Chanukah gelt. And in Cleveland, Cavaliers head coach David Blatt, who used to coach in the Israeli league, will join teens on Sunday, Dec. 6—the first night of Chanukah—to wrap gifts for children with disabilities. The program is sponsored by Friendship Circle of Cleveland, a Chabad-run organization that offers multiple services for children with special needs and their families.
Blatt will also light a 40,000-piece, 8-foot Lego menorah.
Zippel noted that the visibility of Jews lighting menorahs is especially important right now with the recent terrorist attacks in Israel, France and other parts of the world.
“Sadly, we live in a time and place where it can be dangerous for someone to be proud of their Judaism,” he said. “I think that Chanukah comes at an extremely auspicious time, where everyone around the world can really use a boost, and we are happy to provide that here in Utah.”
‘The Universal Symbol of Freedom’
Aside from market size, another challenge organizers face is scheduling. For example, Orlando Magic’s only home game during Chanukah this year takes place on Shabbat. Instead, Chabad of Greater Orlando organized the third annual Jewish Heritage Night this past Sunday against the Boston Celtics. The event featured a kosher barbecue before the game, and a Chabad participant sang the national anthem while other Jewish community members stood on the court.
Rabbi Levik Dubov of Chabad of Greater Orlando in Maitland, Fla., said they performed a ceremonial menorah-lighting without a blessing, “just so people know that Chanukah is coming.”
Scheduling issues aside, he stressed that “the best place to get hold of people at one time is a sports game.”
“The thing that is most important is that the Jew or the non-Jew in the stands who does not know what Chanukah is learns about the menorah—the universal symbol of freedom,” said Dubov, who watched the Magic beat the Celtics 110-91.
Earlier this year, he happened to be at a grocery store when a man stopped him and said, “You’re the rabbi who lit the menorah at the Magic game last year.”
“He had no detailed knowledge of Judaism,” noted Dubov. “But he saw a menorah-lighting, and it stuck with him.”
Other upcoming national Jewish Heritage Night events include those involving the Denver Nuggets (Dec. 8), Dallas Mavericks (Dec. 9), Brooklyn Nets (Dec. 10), Nashville Predators (Dec. 10), Atlanta Hawks (Dec. 12), Miami Heat (Dec. 13) and the Golden State Warriors (Dec. 16).
For Chanukah information—including locating public menorah-lightings—including inspiration, recipes, events for the whole family and more, visit the Chabad.org Chanukah 2015 page here.
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